Hey, As you know I recently got my first car, the zx, and I ahve to learn to drive manual on it I just wanted to know, how badly can you damage the transmission by stalling it and 'bunny hopping' etc. Ive had two lessons in it, and slowly getting the hang of it, but feels like its 'hurting' my car when these things happen. So tell me, how badly can I really damage it?
You'll hurt your clutch more than anything, just dont try and launch it really hard until you have it down. Go find a private carpark somewhere and practise, practise! If you feel you're about to stall, push the clutch in a bit...
Oh not the Steve Millen special nice car dude I like. Stalling not really and issue as it just stalls no damage or undue stress done. As far as bunny hopping goes you would have to do it a hell of a lot to cause damage. It will increase the load stresses on the bearings etc and the tailshaft but only after long periods of time. The Z32 box is very strong and will handle abuse well so hopping shouldnt be an issue, plus you will get the hang of it just make sure its in first
Getting in sync is not easy, and having to drive an auto all other times doesnt help either...I wanna drive the Z non-stop! NotE: Let go of clutch and push accellerator simultaneously...lol Good news cant do great deal of damage tho, thanks
When i got my L's the first thing i did before even driving my parent's car's was to take 5 driving lessons in a manual car with an instructor. This way i at least learnt the basics of using the clutch and balancing it on the friction point without burning it, timing gear changes, how to prevent stalls, hill starts etc. This way, even after those 5 lessons, i didn't cause as much damage to my parent's cars as i would have had i not taken the lessons beforehand. Plus an instructor will know how to teach you properley. My instructor was pretty good. He figured out i was pretty into cars so he'd give me good technical explanations as to why things were done the way they are when driving a manual. It helped alot understanding why i was supposed to do certain things as opposed to just doing it because my dad told me to. As for clutch damage... well... not sure if i've mentioned this before but i am actually a triplet. yes so that meant three people learning all at the same time in the one car... basically our camry's clutch was toast after the first few months (it already had about 50,000kays on it before we started learning) but in the first month of learning manual is probably when you'll damage the clutch the most (as in wearing it out at a greater rate), learning balance and about the friction point etc then after you get the hang of it you'll be sweet.
Dun worry - i;ve been drivingauto since i got me license - and only until amonth ago went to manual cause of a new work car. Now every time i jump in a auto - i always try to press the footrest down :biggrin:
i would be looking to get my hands on a small manual car ... do any minimal, initial damage on it .. and easier to learn to drive..lol.. .. then get into the zed for heaps of fun .... :zlove: :zlove: :zlove:
Seriously - none !!! Certainly no damage worth commenting on. Mate, the power and clutch setup on a NA may be a bit more sporty than your average "Camry", but is, in practical terms no different than other normally aspirated cars - it may grab a little quicker and propel you a little quicker. Extra wear to the gearbox will be very minor, but probably proportional to how much you abuse the clutch. The TT, perhaps with its engine power and clutch power booster could be an issue. Provided you are being taught by someone who knows how to drive, your initial "getting familiar" stage should make no measurable difference to the operation or longevity of the clutch and/or gearbox. More damage is done under-estimating the power, particularly in the wet - (curbs and trees can attest to this). I would think concentrating on driving the car capably is the go rather than wear and tear issues. After all it is a sports car. Good luck. Cheers, Peter
driving your car you are doing damage. but eastern eye goot point mate i do it all the time as my family has 7cars and their half manual and half auto so yes in the case of getting into auto and trying to put foot on clutch, after driving a manual car, but you soon realize ur in an auto. lol hmm in reguards to the ware and tare on the car, just by driving your car you are damaging it. but thats what they were designed for to get you from a to b, but ppl with zed's and other sports cars like to get their faster or in style. by the sounds of it you will burn ur clutch more than anything, bunny hoping dosent really damage much more ware and tare and strain, on ur gearbox, suspention, tyres, and anything else you can think of lol, but when you lern how to drive manual or get the basic's of driving one, you just look at the raod and dont think about changing gears and pushing the clutch you brain will do that for you, all you have to do is concentrate on the raod and try keep the music to a bare minimum so you can think about what ur doing whilst driving on the road, so you dont kill others in other cars, With the 300zx might have been a little too much power for your first car, you should get like small car or something with little less hp, as these cars are fast, and prepare to shit ur self if ur gona do stupid stuff, also one more thing when ever loose control of your car whist doing something stupid like burnout or trying to drift, just release the gas/pedal and the car will correct its self, as people always try correct the car when their doing what ever it their doing and keep foot on gas/pedal and oversteer and hit or damage their cars,. trust me iv been driving for many years and iv tryed lost of things and done lost of stupid things in cars, even street racing..... i know not very smart. good luck with the driving mate try and take in some of the info iv previded, and you will be a happier man when u drive and stay safe., and one more thing stay in the left lane unless over taking, cause it shits me to tears when dick heads drive in fast lane and dont even do speedlimit or faster, and if someone is tail riding you get out of his way. Kind Reguards Shaun
Quick tip A tip I found useful in teaching my kids to drive manual:- Let in the clutch gently till the revs begin to slow (the clutch is just beginning to engage) then hold the clutch there for a second or two and gradually increase the revs with more accelerator, then as revs come up continue to slowly let in the clutch until it's fully engaged and you're away. Do that a few times until you get the hang and it will soon become second nature.
Ha Ha. I tried to teach no 3 son to drive a manual when he was on his L's. We have a loop with a rather steep hill. On the flats he usually mastered it, but on the hill starts he either stalled or did a burnout. In the end he got an auto license as we don't have another manual for him to drive. I walked around the loop a couple of weeks afterwards, and could still see the tyremarks
I actually find the Z easier in the non-stalling and hill starting department than little 4 cylinder hatchbacks. Once you get over the heavy, short travel clutch it is pretty easy. Because it?s nice and torquey (particularly the NA's) it gets going pretty easy. Every time I drive my sister's civic I stall it
yeah I think I was doing this with my dad. Letting the clutch and the accellerator control the car moving backwards and forwards It helps, but yeah takes practice...Itll come eventually After I learn to drive this car, itll be a while before I drive any other manual, so should be sweet thx for the info
I remember my first few times driving with my dad, at first he made me take off without using the accelerator. I think that's a great way to learn the feel of the clutch.
Learning on a Z - now that sounds like fun :biggrin: I would say the biggest problem when learning to drive a manual is psychological, especially when you sit in a Z for the first time it can be daunting. FYI most seasoned manual drivers who drive a Z for the first time can have trouble adjusting. The clutch is just more sensitive, so if you get the hang of it quickly it I'll mail you over a beer! But yeah, as everyone has said, don't worry about it. You'll probably want to upgrade the clutch in the next few years anyway. If you are a perfectionist / self concious of not getting everything right quickly, like i was when i was learning :bash: , then just sit in the car when its turned off and just progressively press the clutch down half a centremeter at a time and back a couple of times. That way when you are taking off your foot will be used to "feeling" the clutch, and you will soon get used to the position where the clutch/gear engages. When you get more used to it you will find that you only need to play with a small part of the clutch pedal.
There's no way I'd be wanting to learn to use a clutch in my zed. I learned to drive a manual when I was 8. No I'm not bullshitting, I grew up on a farm and we had a long driveway. So I've never really had a problem with clutches in any car. Until I got the Zed that is, mine has an OS Giken triple plate in it and it's unforgiving to say the least. I was bunny hopping just about every time I took off for the first couple of days. Add that to the fact I had to try and find my way out of Sydney and had never driven there before.
Granted I've never driven another manual, but its not THAT bad...now I just had my third lesson, and only stalled it when doing a 3 point turn (reverse handbrake starts grrr) lol But yeah, I get what your saying with the practise. In the auto i pretend im in a manual, pushing the footrest lol Im finding manual is much more fun then Auto...I guess it could be because the Z is the only manual car we have
one bit of advice a number of my friends and people i know that have been taught to drive a manual make one critical mistake that can potentially damage the clutch etc. people get really scared of hillstarts. i live on a huge hill and so the first thing i had to do was a hill start. so here is my little bit of advice. a hill start is EXACTLY the same as a normal start on flat ground in terms of clutch and accelerator control (depending on the angle of the ill, a little more accelerator may be needed). when doing the start, if you hold the hand brake with the button depressed so that i can be dropped, as soon as you feel a tug through your left hand, being the car trying to move, then drop the hand brake. it's a good simple way to learn, and once you get better, you will be able to time the hand brake drop with your clutch and accelerator movements so that you will not feel any tug at all. i have seen some people do some weird stuff, the worst being a guy that used to hold the car on a hill by balancing it on the clutch, and sometimes the accelerator as well, needless to say, it stunk, and his clutch was worn out in a couple of months good luck with learning. a zed is a good car to learn on i think, because it teaches you the correct method straight away, and punishes you when you get it wrong because it is not very forgiving. nice car too!
